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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443558">Last Man Standing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidonis/pseuds/Sidonis'>Sidonis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Black Sails, Historical RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Gen, No Spoilers, Pirates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:29:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidonis/pseuds/Sidonis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Charles Vane is a cruel man with a taste for blood, and his mind is set on causing maximum destruction. He no longer seeks to satisfy his greed for gold when boarding a ship. Instead, he indulges in the fear and terror his attacks strike into the enemy crew, and the titillating experience of being the master of a battlefield.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Last Man Standing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this short fic as part of my character study of Vane.<br/>It's as applicable to the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag game as it is to the Black Sails tv series. Charles Vane was an actual, historical pirate, so it's also RPF to some degree.<br/>Edited for grammar and spelling. From 2014.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dark, thick wads of smoke cloaked the two ships as the swivels’ shots tore open the planks of the frigate. They uncovered the dark space below, seamed by splinters, the edges light like a giant shark’s teeth, calmly waiting to rip anyone’s body apart who dared to step too close to its hungry mouth. Screams of terror and pain alike drowned out by the thunders of another round of heavy shots hitting the ship’s side, for a long moment tilting it so far it felt like keeling over. Yet the vessel slowly sunk back, the wood groaning as if grieving for the expiring lives it carried. Even when the shooting ended, the smell of gunpowder kept lingering in the air, making it hard to breathe. The fumes burned in the lungs, a foretaste of hellfire.</p><p>As he shouted the command to board the incapacitated ship, Vane’s voice briefly trembled in anticipation. Seeing his men blindly following his orders sent an adrenaline rush through his body. He inhaled deeply, tasted the scent of his battlefield. No matter how many times he took over other ships, no boarding was like the other. It was the subtle nuances of a battle most people were blind to. It was the movements on deck, like a well-orchestrated dance, the cries were the music, the scene enchantingly painted with the swirling colors of stumbling sailors’ bodies, perfected with an ever-changing painting of blood, steadily carried away by seawater, as if the ocean tried to undo the harm he and his crew had caused. A gentle soul she was…</p><p>Pushing away one of his sailors, Vane cleared the way for himself, firmly planting his heavy boots on the British frigate’s planks. With a couple of quick steps, he submerged himself in the moving mass of battling bodies, anonymous and petty, all of them, regardless under which flag they sailed. He leaped forward, thrusting his blade right through the neck of an adversary. The soldier silently gazed at him in horror, his lips slightly parted. Vane paused just for long enough to watch the spark of life escape the man’s eyes, leaving nothing but dull emptiness staring back at him.</p><p>With a swift movement, he wielded his sword at another man who only briefly managed to fend him off. Vane drove him back step after step until there was no more space left to retreat to. The soldier’s face turned pale as he felt the wood of the railing pushing against his back. His hands were shaking too much to keep holding on to the sword. Charles slowly closed in on him, a twisted smile on his lips. The expression on the man’s face changed with every step the pirate took. Would he spare his life if he swore loyalty to the black flag? As the captain stood a mere meter away, he slowly lowered his sword. Relief came setting in, was there hope after all?</p><p>In one step, Vane closed the distance between them, towering over the paralyzed soldier, so close he could feel his unsteady, nervous breath against his skin. At first, it was incomprehension that spread on his face when Vane pulled the trigger. The man’s body went limp, and he dropped to his knees. He coughed and lowered his eyes, staring at the hot, dark fluid quickly soaking his uniform. After a loud cry of pain, he let his frame sink back onto the wooden flooring, readily surrendering to the numbness that claimed his mind. The deadly strike was little more than a necessity; it was an inevitable, final action.  What really mattered was the act in which he prepared his opponent for death. It was the moment they realized their lives would only last for another instant.</p><p>Other pirates lived for the fleeting pleasure of having a bag full of coin to spend at the next tavern or to buy a woman’s affection. Treasure had been his motivation, too, when he signed up to become a privateer a long time ago. However, as the years passed, he grew cold to the shimmer of gold. Instead, Charles Vane started to relish those brief moments of absolute power. Nothing compared to the thought that he was the last person these unfortunates would ever see.</p><p>By the time the smoke had disappeared, victory was declared. While most of the pirates gathered whatever valuables the frigate had to offer, the rest collected the remainder of its crew, pulling them onto the deck and pushing them to the ground in front of Vane. He let his eyes wander among the three men that were left of the British crew.</p><p>“Yer the capt’n I assume…” he finally said, placing the tip of his sword under the chin of one of them, forcing the captive to look up at him. The officer stuttered a barely audible ‘yes’ that earned him a taunting laugh from the pirates surrounding them. Charles nodded. </p><p>“Throw ’em off,” Vane commanded, and his crew members obeyed eagerly, mercilessly dragging the two battered soldiers to the railing and shoving them into the cold water.</p><p>“So, now we have established a more intimate settin’, I have a choice for ye to make,” Vane continued. “Bow to me an’ pledge loyalty to us pirates an’ ye shall be spared.”</p><p>“Oh, God, yes, thank you… thank you!” the Brit gasped, humbly lowering his head to the ground over and over, already bathed in sweat. Suddenly, the movement was stopped by Charles’ boot, heavily pressing against the captain’s head, causing him to gasp in surprise and fear, meekly reassuring he would convert to the pirate way of life again and again.</p><p>“Ye know, the problem is we don’ want men like ye among us,” Vane interrupted his pleas, his voice heavy with faked pity as he lifted his boot, giving the captain just enough time to look up at him, fear overtaking his features. The next second, the pirate let his foot come down at full tilt on the captive’s neck, snapping it with a faint cracking sound.</p><p>“We’re done here. Sink ‘er,” the pirate captain sealed the plundered ship’s fate—just another underwater graveyard lining his path.</p>
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